


Believe Me

by rumbellesecrets



Series: A Tale of True Love [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dark Castle, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 10:03:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9175741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rumbellesecrets/pseuds/rumbellesecrets
Summary: What Belle could have said in Skin Deep.“You… you hold onto that curse - and for what? The empty castle, the artifacts you collect and never use?”“Not your business,” he snapped.But she was on a roll. “Oh, yes. Yes, it is. If you’re going to convince yourself that I betrayed you, you’re going to tell me why.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [glindathegood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/glindathegood/gifts).



> Written post 6x09.

Belle watched in disbelief as her hopes shattered around her, slammed into the ground by Rumplestiltskin’s fury. She was still reeling from the sight of the man under the curse. His skin had changed into pink tones; she hadn’t imagined that. His eyes had changed too, from dilated golden pupils to a softer brown. There was a man she could love, Belle felt sure of it.

She already did, even through the darkness that permeated him.

But right now it was that same darkness that kept her frozen in place, staring as Rumplestiltskin yelled at invisible enemies. The Queen, he’d said. The woman on the road.

Her friend?

Belle felt her indignation burn down to unshed tears in the face of his anger.

How could he believe-?

Oh, how she wished this witch would have been content with kidnapping her and threatening her life! She would be waiting for Rumplestiltskin to show up and rescue her, instead of scrambling for a way to reach through to him.

But his mind was taking him down dark paths already. He blamed her of conspiring against him. Of trying to destroy him. Of playing the hero. And all she’d wanted was to free him of that horrible curse that had taken hold of him!

“It was working,” she insisted, just to have him yell in her face. He wasn’t listening. Why wasn’t he listening? “It means it’s true love!” she cried out. “Why won’t you believe me?”

He roared at her, face contorted into the picture of a beast. “Because no one - _no one_ \- can ever - _ever_ \- love me!”

Belle reared back at the fury of his words.

His grasp at her arms was a shock. He had never hurt her. She wouldn’t believe that he ever could. But he was holding on so tight… Her head swam with confusion, and for one crucial moment she could have stayed silent, let him drag her wherever he saw fit to stash her for her supposed crimes.

But instead she dug her feet into the carpet. If she was about to be tossed out, she would have her say. She refused to be lumped together with those who had actually hurt him. “I’m not her!” she shouted back, twisting in his grip.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “What?”

“I’m not her,” she repeated. “You don’t believe I want you? Fine! But you’ll have to walk away first. I won’t abandon you. I won’t give up on you. And I definitely won’t hear you say I’m lying to you.” She took advantage of his stunned silence. “Why would I lie? Because your queen made me an offer? _I’m. not. her._ I’ll never choose power over love!”

He curled his lips back, teeth bared menacingly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Belle met his eye. “You know I do,” she challenged him.

The memory of the night he had summoned the Black Fairy stood between them.

He looked away first.

“Do you really believe I’d hurt you too?”

“Don’t be silly,” he scoffed, as if she hadn’t heard him demand an answer from the mother who had rejected him. He might be safe from death, but he had suffered too. He still drew himself tall, tilting his chin up in his haughtiest pose. “I’m the Dark One, dearie.”

“And that’s all you want to be.” Belle failed to understand why he’d reject her when their love could set him free. Except if he had no interest in that freedom. “You… you hold onto that curse - and for what? The empty castle, the artifacts you collect and never use?”

“Not your business,” he snapped.

But she was on a roll. “Oh, yes. Yes, it is. If you’re going to convince yourself that I betrayed you, you’re going to tell me why.”

Faced with her determination, he clenched his jaw and shook his head.

If he was too much of a coward to say the words, she would do it for him. “I’m not stupid, Rumplestiltskin. It’s the magic, isn’t it? Of course it’s the magic. Like mother, like child.” She felt him give a step backwards, so she followed after him. “You’ll choose power first. Just like she did.”

That struck him.

Belle could practically see the moment he realized she was right. His grasp on her arm loosened. Belle didn’t know whether he would have used his magic to escape, but she reached for him anyway, grabbing a fistful of his sleeve to keep him in place.

“If you do this, it will be a mistake too.”

“I make no mistakes,” he ground out, practically hissing the words.

“I love you, Rumple. If you love me…”

“No.”

But there was a broken note in that word, so Belle pressed: “Why not?”

Silence.

Her eyes filled with tears again. “Why can’t you choose me?”

“Because I always will choose my son first!”

Belle let go of him in her surprise, wiping her tears away with a quick pass of her hand. “Your son?” The son he’d admitted to have lost? How…? Why…? She saw the utter misery in his face, and knew that this wasn’t a lie. “Your son is not dead,” she said, feeling the need to smack herself in the head. He played with words. His grief had been sincere, but he’d let her draw the wrong conclusion. “He actually is lost. Somewhere…. somewhere you can’t reach?”

She tried to wrap her mind around a feat the Dark One couldn’t accomplish, and felt her brain hurt at the impossible task. He’d gotten rid of the ogres within a single night. He had saved her from three witches with barely an effort. She had seen the magic he worked in his tower, the impressive spells he managed with a flicker of his fingers.

“I don’t understand,” she said truthfully.

Rumplestiltskin shook his head. His shoulders hung low. His anger had dissipated, and when he looked at her, it was with an air of mystified bafflement. “Why won’t you go, Belle?”

To remind him of her feelings would mean nothing, when he couldn’t see a reason for them. At a loss, Belle clung to the basics of their relationship. Before there had been trust, before there had been fondness, there had been… a promise. “I can’t. You promised me a story, Rumplestiltskin,” she reminded him. “The deal was struck.”

A corner of his mouth lifted at her daring. “And if you hate me when I’m done?”

She lifted an eyebrow. “So you were trying to make me grow fonder of you just a moment ago?”

A flash of contrition crossed his face.

“As you wish,” he said, his voice already a defeated sigh, clearly picturing her walking away from his life at the end of his tale and still willing to share it.

It was the closest thing to an apology she would get.

The Dark One, showing a hint of weakness to his maid. And through this whole ordeal, he had yelled and lashed out… but he’d never denied that he loved her too.

Belle chose to believe there was hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is welcome!


End file.
